Sixers Scoop: Jason Richardson takes wrong step with ankle sprain

NEW YORK -- Everyone else in the 76ers' locker room was zippering a jacket. Jason Richardson was fiddling with a walking boot.

Richardson sustained a left ankle sprain less than two minutes into Sunday's game, a 100-84 loss to the New York Knicks. The starting shooting guard said X-rays on the ankle came back negative and he expects to miss "a game or two, if that."

"I'm the type of guy who hates sitting down," Richardson said. "I'll tell you this much -- that was the least I've played" in an NBA game.

Richardson exited the game at the 10:13 mark of the first quarter. He rolled his ankle while sticking the landing on a layup attempt. He missed the bucket, but he couldn't miss a photographer's foot.

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"I stepped on the camera guy," Richardson said, rolling his eyes in frustration.

Richardson said the ankle, which he's injured a couple times in his career, "ballooned up a lot" in the minutes following the injury. He said it's under control and that there's no structural damage.

Without Richardson, the Sixers were missing an integral part of their offense. A taller guard who is strong on the defensive glass, he's key to springing their fastbreak game. The Sixers managed only two points in fastbreak opportunities.

"That was big, especially with J-Rich," said Jrue Holiday. "He really spaces the floor, attacks, rebounds. Him going down, I think everybody has to pick it up. Him going down early, too, I think it hurt."

Evan Turner, in ho-hum fashion, posted a double-double. The Sixers' third-year small forward coupled 11 points with 10 rebounds, following up a 2-for-7 shooting effort in their opener with a 2-for-9 showing.

Turner didn't make a basket until the 7:51 mark of the third quarter, with a baseline jumper ending his bucket-free streak. Sixers coach Doug Collins said one decent outing could do wonders for Turner.

"I think (Turner) just needs a breakout game where the ball goes in and he's in a good rhythm," Collins said. "Right now, he's not in a great rhythm and our team is not."

NOTES: Philly native Rasheed Wallace entered for the Knicks with less than two minutes to play. A teammate of Sixers assistant coach Aaron McKie at Simon Gratz High, Wallace received raucous applause when he backed down the Sixers' Nick Young to knock down a right-handed baby hook in the lane. ... The Sixers' Royal Ivey made his season debut in unceremonious fashion, netting nine minutes. ... Kwame Brown, who Collins had declared "ready to play," did not get off the bench. The veteran center has not played since an Oct. 13 exhibition.